arco drain needed and the quotes are in ....(can I do it myself?)

DSJ_72 · Monday at 2:24 PM

Hello Experts.

I have been quoted £2800 to lay an arco drain along the side of my new house, starting from the left of the white door, and around the conservatory, to join the manhole drain on the other side (pics attached)

The cost could be less as the builders said there was a good chance there is a pipe underneath the conservatory thereby reducing cost by about £450

Is this not something I could do? Or will this be something best left to those with the right tools / skills ?

freddiemercurystwin · Monday at 2:43 PM

Whilst it may be obvious we're gonna start by asking what the problems are and how the ACO will rectify things. And yes you can DIY though technically you're not allowed to connect into the sewers without approval. Maybe upload a fag packet sketch of the layout and where the problems are and where you think the existing drain runs are.

jj4091 · Monday at 3:28 PM

Which door in which pic are you referring to and I can't see any manhole. You appear to already have a channel drain at the bottom of the pinkish render. Where is that draining to? Are the chippings just a soak away and if so how deep do day go?

DSJ_72 · Monday at 3:50 PM

Sorry I think you can see the white framed door in the first picture and yes there is existing drain there but seems to run to shingle but then also maybe finally running under the conservatory and out to the manhole which is pictured in the third photo to the upper right

jj4091 · Monday at 6:10 PM

You still haven't said what the problem is and what you hope to achive by having a drainage channel installed. At a guess I would suspect that you have water collecting by the french doors into the conservatory or the dwarf wall retaining the lawn. You appear to have a soakaway running around it which means it's not doing it's job. You need to do more investigation as it could just be a soakaway or it could be a French drain or something else connected to what ever the white downspout flows into or as you say it could go under the conservatory to the manhole, but you need to establish exactly what you have and why it isn't working as it should. You'll need to get a spade and start digging but I'm surprised that whoever has given you the quote hasn't established what the problem is first of all. It could be a simple blockage somewhere.

DSJ_72 · 2026-04-28T09:03:04+0100

OK understood - I will havd a go at it with the spade later and share more pics. FYI it was the survey of the house that pointed this out - there are lots of damp issues here and getting a drain installed that actually works was advised and budgeted for. I will have a good scrape around later and see.

cdbe · 2026-04-28T11:33:14+0100

The ground level looks high and that pink render looks low, I wouldn't rush into anything without a thorough investigation.

For £2.8k, as a diyer I'd expect to sort the render, ground level, drainage, replace all the paving and extend the patio in front of the french doors.

DSJ_72 · 2026-04-28T14:19:44+0100

I have dug out the crap from the drain and it already exists from before the start of the white door and ends where the conservatory begins. From there it is just draining into grit.

I think the next step is to find a way to understand if the manole cover takes water from underneath the conservatory? And give the whole thing a good power wash and test it out, at least for as far.

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arco drain needed and the quotes are in ....(can I do it myself?)

DSJ_72

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